New US general named to lead global forces in Afghanistan

Gen. John W. Nicholson, Jr. speaking to his senior leaders at Fort Bragg, N.C. Officials say the Obama administration has chosen Nicholson, a seasoned veteran of the Afghanistan war, to succeed Gen. John F. Campbell as the top American commander in Kabul.

Lisa Ferdinando writes that Nicholson’s nomination and promotion to the rank of four-star general will go through the Senate confirmation process. There are 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan who advise Afghan forces and also conduct counter-terrorism missions.

At Campbell’s urging, Obama last October abandoned his plan to reduce troop levels to near zero by the end of 2016. The number of troops is set to fall to about 5,500 by the end of the year.

Nicholson said he supported the decision to retain the 9,800 American troops, and he agreed with Campbell’s approach.

“Sir we’d need to prevent Kandahar from falling into the hands of the Taliban”, replied Nicholson.

Nicholson is testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He was the commander of Fort Drum’s 3rd brigade combat team from 2004 to 2007, protecting 7 million Afghans and 570 miles of the Pakistani border.

Lt. General Nicholson stated that terrorist organizations such as Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda are tyring to create hideouts in Afghanistan.

Carter credits Campbell with taking the fight to al-Qaida and making clear the resolve to deny it safe haven, and with consistently identifying ways to increase the capability and capacity of the Afghan forces, Cook said.

“It is time to immediately halt US troop withdrawals and eliminate any target date for withdrawal”. Nicholson now heads NATO’s Allied Land Command in Turkey, which is responsible for the readiness of NATO’s land forces. In the early days of the Obama administration he was the Pentagon’s chief officer for coordinating all its planning efforts for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the question matched a seemingly unanimous sentiment from members of the committee who spoke Thursday that a premature US withdrawal from Afghanistan is unwise, and that the situation on the ground may require looser restrictions or even more troops.

Carter believes Nicholson understands the importance and complexity of the mission in Afghanistan, Cook said.

The top USA commander nominated to take charge of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan has called for “an enduring commitment to the Afghans” amid deteriorating situation in the country, mainly due to the resurgent Taliban violence and threats posed by the emergent loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group.